TWO POPULAR KINGS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 19, 18 May 1896, Page 2

TWO POPULAR KINGS.

We do not believe that there are any two kings in Christendom who have so many loyal subjects as King Football and King Cricket, and just now the two monarchy of sport evoke the enthusiasm of the bulk of the people in Australasia. The doings of the Australian cricketers in the Mother Country are eagerly noted and as eagerly criticised. The opening match against Lord Sheffield's team was noticeable, among other things, for the fact that the Australian captain was presented to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. " The Prince and the Cricketer" would make a splendid title for a three volume novel or a four act melodrama, but in this instance a political atmosphere surrounds the meeting of Prince and captain, and statesmen will tells us that the ligaments which fasten the Empire have been drawn closer by the graciousness of the Prince of Wales. Probably it has; at any rate we may be sure that the Prince has advanced several points in the estimation of colonials, while Harry Trott is a momentary hero. While King Cricket receives our homage from a distance, King Football reigns and claims our entire devotion. Throughout the colonies this national outdoor game is in the ascendant, and the servitude he demands is neither irksome nor unpleasant. Philanthropists have been eager that recreation should play a larger part in the general life, and in England and the colonies they are attaining that wish. Amusement has become the first preoccupation of the people, and sport occupies a large and ever increasing space in the newspapers. We would not abolish football and cricket if we could, for such outdoor games are essentially good, for they develop health, hind the people together, and give them something to think of which promotes cheerfulness and good temper. Gloominess is not virtue, and the time expended on outdoor games is not more wasted than time expended on sterile meditation and injurious gossip. Of football it may be said that it drills men to dare, to obey, and to exert themselves to the utmost, and those players become the favorites who combine all these virtues. We hope the day is far distant when football and cricket will be forgotten. The nation derives incalculable good from outdoor sports, and the supremacy of the British nation may be credited to our field amusements. Health, strength, pluck, and endurance, together with discipline are the qualities necessary for a people like the British, who have a supremacy to maintain, and whose supremacy must sooner or later be challenged. May the two Kings whose popularity is so pronounced continue to reign, and may the numbers of their subjects increase yearly. It is best for Australasia that it should be so. "